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Canadian Federal Program Aims To Get Mentally Ill Off Streets
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by Annina Bergman | August 25, 2009 at 02:57 pm
88 views | 6 Recommendations | 4 comments
The federal government is testing a new program in five major cities in Canada, aiming to help homeless people with mental illnesses to reintegrate into society. The $150 million program was created by the Canadian Commission on Mental Health, and will be implemented in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Moncton.
Participants in the program will be selected next month, and will be offered 24-hour support by phychiatrists and medical professionals. The program runs for four years, after which the participants will be compared to people who remained on the streets.
The federal program takes a different approach than other projects that deal with homelessness and mental illness – and some workers in the field are concerned it's too much at once.
At Montreal's Old Brewery Mission, several homeless men have been set up in permanent apartments over the last five years — but only after they've been through addictions treatment programs and received psychological counselling.
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Recommendations (6)
a211423
Clearlake, California, United States
albertacowpoke
Canada
eastvanray
vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 15:36 on August 25th, 2009
Something has to be done. In Vancouver a lot of the mentally ill homeless are seriously addicted to crack. They have their work cut out for them. I hope they are successful. Nothing is more disturbing than running into someone on the streets who is both crazy AND a crackhead!
at 08:45 on August 26th, 2009
It is encouraging to hear of programs like this that at least acknowledge and link mental illness with a burgeoning homeless population. The mentally ill need coordinated care and interventions that include housing, medication supervision, dual diagnosis counseling, education, and job training if they are able to work.
I don't know why workers would feel "it's too much." Programs in the U.S. have shown that when programs offer wide range of support in all the areas of persons life, they respond positively. Also, the fact that the program spans four years is excellent because it takes a while for the mentally ill to become accustomed to supportive living, and there needs to be room for relapses and recovery.
at 21:27 on August 26th, 2009
Too bad the never ending flow of homeless crack addicts will never cease until we address the root cause of the issue which is the way we organize our society and place the value of money above human life. I'm talking about community not social programs. Decentralized society with localized production is the only solution to it. Otherwise in my opinion you can only ever offer band-aid solutions.
Don't Globalize - Localize!
at 09:43 on August 27th, 2009
Study your economics. Local production is inefficient for most goods. That is why production has naturally moved to those producers with a comparative advantage. To move away from that would only hurt those who are most vulnerable as they are least able to afford the increases in prices that would accompany "localized production".